Good morning. Many CEOs are stepping up to visibly invest in the U.S. right now. Tech leaders were eager to pledge investments at President Trump’s White House dinner last week and I’ve met with a number of global CEOs announcing new commitments to create U.S. jobs.
Of course, it’s more interesting to see actual projects than promises that might not come to pass. Last week, I spoke to Giuseppe Marino, Group CEO of Hitachi Rail, who is in Hagerstown, Maryland, today for the official opening of the London-based manufacturer’s $100 million “lighthouse” digital factory and customer experience center.
It’s a smart bet for a company that’s been shifting its focus from building trains to building systems like advanced signaling and a “digital twin” platform, which railway customers can use to optimize their networks. Hitachi Rail accounted for about 12% of Japanese parent Hitachi’s $66.4 billion in revenue last year and almost 8.5% of its $7.8 billion in adjusted EBITDA. It’s a small but growing player in the U.S. rail industry, relative to competitors like Wabtec, Siemens and Alstom, with a particular strength in urban passenger rail, which is facing pressure on the political front even as freight transport is booming. (The Trump Administration has pulled funding for high-speed rail and mass transit, and of course made it tough for rail manufacturers to import the components they need to build products.)
Still, Marino is optimistic, saying his company sits at the “intersection of energy transition and digital transition” in a period where the value proposition of rail transcends politics.
“The U.S. historically invested more in highway innovation than passenger rail … but I think that’s changing,” says Marino. Among other things, he argues that “rail is essential for sustainable efficiency” and high-speed rail is “revolutionizing Europe.” Adds Marino: “We’re convinced we can bring this technology here.” And, of course, “create American jobs.”As for me, I’m in Park City, Utah, with many of my Fortune colleagues and top tech leaders for Fortune Brainstorm Tech, which you can stream here. I’ll be sharing more from our conversations—on stage and off—later this week.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
Top news
Trump warns companies after Hyundai raid
Following the immigration raid that detained 475 workers from a Hyundai electric car battery plant in Georgia, President Trump called on “all Foreign Companies investing in the United States to please respect our Nation’s Immigration Laws. Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people, with great technical talent, to build World Class products, and we will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so.” South Korea reached a deal to fly its workers home.
Trump threatens Chicago with federal troops
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China trade with U.S. collapses
Exports from China to the U.S. declined 33% in August and imports from the U.S. to China declined 16%, year on year, as Trump’s tariff regime begins to bite, CNBC reports.
Analysts: A few key industries are keeping job numbers above water
Apollo Global Management’s Torsten Sløk wrote over the weekend that, according to the latest jobs report, tariff-impacted industries actually experienced negative job growth in August. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, says job growth in total would be zero without a few industries pulling the weight.
Trump sends Hamas a new peace proposal
White House envoy Steve Witkoff has communicated to Hamas the president’s latest attempt to end the war in Gaza. The proposal involves bringing all Israeli hostages home in exchange for the release of up to 3,000 Palestinian prisoners, a ceasefire, and the withdrawal of Israel’s troops from Gaza. “I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning, there will not be another one!” Trump said on Truth Social.
The new $1 trillion pay package for Tesla CEO
Tesla’s board unveiled a new pay package for CEO Elon Musk last week that could be worth up to $1 trillion if he hits all of a series of targets. But the goalposts are so hard to achieve that even the lowest targets will be hard for Musk to reach.
The markets
S&P 500 futures were up 0.21% this morning. The index closed down 0.32% in its last trading session. STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.19% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.17% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.45%. China’s CSI 300 was up 0.16%. The South Korea KOSPI was up 0.45%. India’s Nifty 50 was up 0.49% before the end of the session. Bitcoin declined to $111.6K.
Around the watercooler
What the ousting of Nestlé’s CEO shows about office romance today by Lila MacLellan
Recession fears grow while Wall Street awaits the one thing that could derail Fed rate cuts by Jason Ma
Silicon Valley’s graying workforce: Gen Z staff cut in half at tech companies as the average age goes up by 5 years by Emma Burleigh
Millennial investor behind Deliveroo, Scale AI and Figma made millions in his 20s—he shares how Gen Z can spot a startup that’ll make them rich too by Orianna Rosa Royle
CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Jim Edwards.
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